Caster



CASTER I Fi'lgd Aug. 17, 1931 INVENTOR. aw/14 ATTORNEY Patented July 4, 1933 V UNET'EDLSTATES PATENT OFFICE CARIi'KIGREENLEAF, OF PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA CASTER :Applicationlfiled August 17, 1931. Serial No. 557,528.

This invention relates to new and useful the ordinary kind may be provided around improvements in casters. the shank. Mounted in a bushing 6, with An object of my invention is to provide an its ends extending through suitable openings ilnproved'caster for use on furniture and provided in the oppositely disposed larger machines of various kinds, embodying selfsid of th a in 1 i a xl r pin 6 on 55 cleaning means adapted to maintain the caSt which is jour'naled a rotatable caster wheel 7.

er free from dirt, threads, hair or other for- The pin is mounted at points beneath the ceneign substances which ordinarily interfere ters of the larger sides of the casing and above with the free operation thereof. the beveled edges 4 thereof, thereby enabling 10 Another object of my invention is to proa considerable part of the wheel 7 to project 60 I vide a novel and improved caster embodying beneath the lower edges of the said casing.

a construction adapted to automatically clean Ext di d w wa dl adj agent each of the side and track sur aces of the Caster the smaller side walls of the casing 1, is a re- W e he eby ar foreign matter silient steel scraper 8, the upper end of which prevented from interfering with the free is held by the screws 3 in a secure position berotation of the said wheel. tweenthe top member 2 and the said side A- further obJect of my inventlon is to prowall, and thelower end of which projects bevide an improved self-cleaning caster, parneath the lower edge of the said side wall. ticularly adapted for use on hair waving and Th l w d f a h f the scrapers 8 is drying machines, which embodies a close fitbent inw rdly to resiliently ontact with opting box-like mounting for the caster wheel posite sides of the periphery of the caster and a plurality of oppositely disposed resiliwheel 7. The extreme lower end of each cut scrapers engaging with the track surfaces of the scrapers is provided with a sharp cutthereof, which prevent hair, thread, lint or ting edge which causes any accumulations other foreign matter from accumulating such as gum, to be removed from the periphabout the axis of the wheel. cry of the caster wheel as the latter is rotated Other objects, more or less apparent, will in eitherdirection about its axis. present themselves or will be specifically The larger sides of the casing 1 are in fairpointed out in the description to follow. ly close contact with the sides of the caster In the accompanying drawing: wheel, thereby enabling the beveled lower Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a caster conedges of the said sides to cause the removal structed in accordance with my invention, of any accumulations of dirt, etc., from the showing parts thereof in section; and sides of the said wheel as the latter rotates Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the caster as about its axis. I viewed from another side, showing parts Owing to the fact that the resilient scrapers 85 thereof in section. 8 and the beveled lower edgesof the larger Referring to the drawing,the numeral 1v sidewalls of the casing 1 enable the exposed represents a rectangular shaped casing havsurfaces of the wheel 7 to be automatically 0 ing a detachable enclosing top member 2 secleaned as the, machine on which the casters cured thereto at its two oppositely disposed are mounted is moved about, strands of hair smaller sides, as by screws 3. The lower edges or thread as well as'lint and dirt are preof the two oppositely disposed larger sides vented from collecting around the axis of of the rectangular casing are beveled as at the caster wheel. By maintaining the axis 4. Suitably secured to the top member 2 is free from undesirable accumulations, the a shank 5 which is adapted to be operatively caster wheel is allowed to freely rotate withmounted in the leg of an article of furniture out danger ofjamming or otherwise becoming or machine. In order to permit the caster ineffectual asarotatable member. to rotate about a vertical axis independently It is to be understood that my improved of the leg of the device on which it is mountcaster is capable of being embodied in other ed, a suitable ball bearing construction of forms or constructions equally as eflicient as the one herein shown and described, so for this and other apparent reasons I desire my invention included broadly within the spirit of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A caster comprising a four-sided casing, two opposite sidewalls of the said casing being larger in area than the other twoopposite side walls, a detachable top member enclosing the top end of the casing a wheel mounted in the casing on an axis, the endsof the said axis being mounted in the larger side walls of the casing, a part of the periphery of said wheel extending beneath and through the lower endof the casing, a pair of scrapers secured to the smaller opposite side Walls of the casing, one end of each scraper extending. beneath the lower edge of the casing.

and in contact with the periphery of the wheel, and means secured to the top member for attaching the caster to a device.

2. A caster comprising a four-sided casing" having two of its opposite side walls of larger area than its other two opposite side walls, the lower edges of two larger side walls being beveled, a wheel rotatably mount ed in the cylinder with a part of its periphery projecting beneath the lower end-of the cylinder, the two opposite sides of the wheel being in close proximity to the two larger side walls of the cylinder, a pair of oppositely V signature. I V CARL K. GREENLEAF. 

